Over the weekend, I read Graham Hancock’s new book, Magicians of the Gods. Mr. Hancock does an incredible degree of on-the-ground research for his books. I was particularly interested in this one, because it shares some essential historical facts with my The Alterran Legacy Series.

A key focus of Book 1, Colony Earth, is the bombardment of Earth by comet fragments that occurred about 13,000 B.C. The Earth had been warming for several centuries and was beginning to bloom again. Glaciers still dominated certain terrain, particularly the Laurentide Ice Sheet that covered Canada, dipping into the United States around the Great Lakes. Relying in part on upon essentially the same geologic research that I used for Colony Earth, Mr. Hancock describes a theory that comet fragments struck the Laurentide with nuclear force, incinerating portions of it. The ensuing fresh water melt caused catastrophic flooding throughout the Earth, as well as a rain of comet fragments that continued for some time. Mr. Hancock, accompanied by an expert, investigated the Channeled Scablands in the State of Washington and describes features that could only have been formed by an extreme force of water. He also describes findings of glass-like objects in Michigan that are formed by immense heat. Fascinating stuff. It’s no wonder that North America wasn’t overpopulated when The Europeans arrived. The lingering, dust clouds and acid rain caused a sudden return to a mini-ice age known as the Younger Dryas, which also serves as an important backdrop to The Alterran Legacy Series.

In Colony Earth, visitors from the planet Alterra, are initially stranded here because of a geologic catastrophe at home – a bombardment from their dying sun has caused the atmosphere to dissipate. After their base and essential equipment, including one that prolongs life, is severely damaged by Earth’s comet, they face the grim prospect of an early death. Preserving their civilization through procreation becomes the only way for their ancient civilization to survive. And so a group breaks away and joins with a village of destitute Earth women.

Mr. Hancock also visited key archeological sites in Mesopotamia, which suffered in the floods. These included Baalbek and Gobekli Tepe, which was found relatively recently. When the weather at the Alterrans’ originally colony becomes too cold for survival, they construct Baalbek. To be fair, Mr. Hancock does not advocate the “ancient astronaut” theory. He is of the view that the 13,000 B.C. events were so catastrophic that they wiped out a civilization that had become highly advanced, even though hunter gatherers existed elsewhere in their world. Somehow these ancients (hence, “Magicians of the Gods”) managed to survive, perhaps in the underground cities being uncovered in Turkey, such as Derinkuyu. (Please check my twitter feed for pictures of the Derinkuyu complex.

I will discuss Goblekli Tepe in another post. For now, I highly recommend Magicians of the Gods.